Why do migrant workers not participate in urban social security schemes?: the case of the construction and service sectors in Tianjin

Li, Bingqin
(2008)
Why do migrant workers not participate in urban social security schemes?: the case of the construction and service sectors in Tianjin.
In: Nielsen, Ingrid and Smyth, Russell, (eds.)
Migration and Social Protection in China.
Series on Contemporary China(14).
World Scientific, London, UK, pp. 92-117.
ISBN 9789812790491

Abstract

Previous research on social welfare participation has uncovered a number of reasons for unwillingness to participate. However, these studies have not examined whether prospective participants are really aware of, or understand, the schemes. The assumption behind existing research, therefore, is that individuals have made informed decisions on whether to participate. This chapter argues that in the context of rural to urban migrants in China information is not always available for informed decision making. I use in-depth interviews with 70 rural to urban migrants in the construction and service sectors in Tianjin to demonstrate that migrant workers are not always aware of the existence of social insurance schemes and even if they are aware of their existence, they may not necessarily understand the schemes. The chapter considers the implication of such research findings for future policy analyses.